What are the risks of skin cancer removal?

You will have to decide if the risks and potential complications of skin cancer removal surgery are acceptable.

You will be asked to sign consent forms to ensure that you fully understand the procedure.

The risks include:

• Allergies to tape, suture materials and glues, blood products, topical preparations or injected agents
• Anesthesia risks
• Change in skin sensation
• Damage to deeper structures – such as nerves, blood vessels and muscles – can occur and may be temporary or permanent
• Excessive bleeding
• Infection
• Poor healing of incisions
• Possibility of revision surgery
• Recurrence of skin cancer
• Systemic spread of skin cancer

These risks and others will be fully discussed prior to your consent. It's important that you address all your questions directly with your plastic surgeon.

Skin graft risks

Skin grafts have an added risk that the graft may not "take" and therefore additional surgery may be necessary to close the wound.

Preserve your health

Once you have been diagnosed with skin cancer, you are at a higher risk to develop another skin cancer. Skin cancer may reoccur. So, it's important to discuss the signs of skin cancer with your physician, regularly perform self-examinations for suspicious lesions and schedule an annual skin cancer screening.